Let’s start off with a nice gentle number just to get ourselves in the mood. We can crash into the noisy stuff later. Well, clearly they didn’t think that was a good idea. Opening up with 3D Mona Lisa you get a false sense of what this LP is all about. Balanced, pacey lead guitar dominates this track, and whilst it’s a song that definitely gets your toes tapping, what follows is not more of the same.
Paul Brett has come to be known as one of the best 12 string acoustic guitar players in the world but what this first offering does show up, is his ability to paint a story through his lyrics. Putting aside the first track for a moment, the band bridge the folk / rock gap beautifully with stories and songs that are on there to be listened to in detail. He reaches, at times, towards the early Peter Gabriel and Roger Chapman style of singing. The throaty extension of his voice blends really well with a more natural sounding output, and overall it lends itself to the acoustic dominance that prevails throughout this LP.
The flute and saxophone play a major role in this production throughout, as does Bob Voice’s percussion playing. Nicky Higginbottom is credited with the flute playing and there is little information to find about her. It’s on record by one band member that they lost touch with her but it appears to be a loss to the music industry as she plays a major role on this LP in blending her artistry with the other members of the band.
Rather oddly, the picture on the front cover shows four members of the band and whilst for many bands, the lead singer, or perhaps guitarist, are likely to feature more prominently than the rest of the band, in this instance Nicky is given the front row. Was this an example of early liberation – remember it was the 70’s and the band was not in her name – or simple a recognition of her contribution, or perhaps a reluctance from Paul to step up. I’ll leave that one alone.
It’s difficult to understand why this wasn’t, commercially, a greater success. It certainly has a place in the folk / rock history books and the songs are strong both lyrically and musically. There was also plenty of popularity around for this music back in the day. But that was yesterday. If you want a solid, gifted musical journey of story-telling from that era, you won’t go far wrong with this offering. Paul Sage has recently released a new LP, the first in 40 years. Perhaps this will resurrect interest in his work from a different era.
